Beijing’s Largest Mall in the Land Still Small on Fun
“Where is it?”
Asks my closest friend after I call to make certain he wants to partake in the excursion.
“I remember hearing about the opening a couple of months ago, but still don’t know where it is.”
He adds. Banging my head against the wall, I lay out the Mercantile Mecca’s location so he won’t have any excuse. If nothing else, the recently heralded Golden Resource Mall (Jinyuan Zhongxin) stands as relatively easy to find, a mere kilometer West of the W. Third Ring Road’s Suzhou Qiao, or half way to the Fourth Ring. But my friend’s reaction seems typical of Beijing’s uncaring attitude towards the behemoth, which perhaps in turn translates into healthy skepticism, something usually lacking in mainland mindsets. A quick round of phone calls and SMS’s confirms suspicions regarding the mall’s anonymity. For all its grandiose splendor and gargantuan size, almost everyone I reach out to reacts with “dunno”, “don’t care” or “won’t bother”. None actually show any real interest in visiting, and only one person had already become a patron, but then he lives across the street.
Frankly, I find this sort of attitude a tad peculiar, coming from a place where major store openings generally go noticed. The 1999 arrival of IKEA back home had people lining up for hours, and most residents take pride in our own Woodfield Shopping Center being the nation’s second largest (at least as of the late 90’s).
But in the northern capital, folks have mayhap developed a thicker, more cynically-toned skin towards the non-stop barrage of supposed world records and monoliths sweeping over China in recent years, resulting in what could be a substantial landmark and consumerism milestone slipping under almost everyone’s radar screen.
Inaugurated late October and constructed jointly by the New Yansha conglomerate, Guizhou Dept Store Co and other investors, Golden Resources sprawls across some six million square feet, including one of the largest parking areas in Asia, encompassing 10,000 car spaces. But as many eagle-eyed observers have already noted, the real challenge lies not in construction, which took less than two years and may indeed be a testament to Chinese development prowess just by itself. No, the crux of it all boils down to getting the parking areas brimming with autos, and the aisles teeming with crazed shopping aficionados. Alas, no such luck December 12th.
As I near the mall, it instantly makes itself apparent, occupying what seem to be endless tracts of land, stretching dizzyingly close to the horizon. Golden Resources, amazingly enough, appears to dwarf the already elongated Dong Fang Guang Chang (Wangfujing’s Oriental Plaza). Additionally, we can’t miss the garish Technicolor paint job adorning its faÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ade, likely making it the second continental China structure visible from outer space (pollution permitting, of course). And parking’s a total breeze. We don’t need to bother with the adjacent five-storey facility, since spots make themselves readily available right in front of the main gates.
Upon preliminary inspection both around and within Golden Resources, the mainland’s rush to get things done for face value and kudos is inescapably evident. Quite obviously, much of the infrastructure needed for a project this massive still remains uncompleted. There are no landscaping efforts to speak of, proper directions, or that touch of cachet separating real malls from haphazardly thrown together collections of stores masquerading as shopping bliss. In short, Golden Resources fails to make us feel like wantonly blowing away wads of hard-earned cash, the true objective of every such center worldwide.
In fact, the place comes across as unpolished, unfinished and wholly short of reaching its illustrious North American inspiration’s standards. Yes, many have used Farmington, Minnesota’s Mall of America as the threshold to cross or the record to beat when discussing Golden Resources’ significance. However, there’s so much to be done before it comes even close, Camp Snoopy or not, and here truly begins my rant.
Golden Resources, due to being so bold of design, lends itself excellently to venting frustration with China’s cadre of shopping malls and their numerous inadequacies.
For all its sheer size, it basically has the same problems as its peers, only on an appropriately bigger scale. Thus my friend and I weren’t surprised, that fateful Monday, to find Golden Resources about as bustling as a scene from some post-apocalyptic sci-fi number, with the glistening floor space playing host to fewer feet than a particularly decrepit line dancing tourney.
And can you blame people for not showing en masse? I mean, what’s the attraction? Sure, saying you’re the biggest may be enough of an incentive for the perpetually curious (and vacant of schedule) such as yours truly, but for people with better things to do or simply less wanderlust it doesn’t cut it. As Golden Resources now must be finding out, taking advice from a Kevin Costner flick comes with much risk. They build it, but nobody’s coming yet.
Again, this reflects situations at other, more established malls around Beijing and China. At most, these manage a successful food court, a few passable fast eats and a supermarket. Otherwise, it’s all overpriced, pompous fare of scant applicability, resulting in throngs of passing-by window gawkers and hardly any transactions.
This new addition suffers from the same affliction. On paper, it houses 1000 different businesses, yet to us they mostly seem to be fashion, jewelry and knick-knack boutiques of an acutely expensive disposition. How many shoes does a person need? How many samey clothing stores (most with ridiculously made up names) can you go into before feeling nauseous? Why only one measly DVD store? Keeping to traditions established by previous generations of Chinese urban shopping venues, Golden Resources offers little variety, completely neglecting fields like home electronics and media. We want to see an Electronics Boutique. We need a Radio Shack. We demand affordable, middle-class crap to make good on all these promises of progress we’ve been hearing so much about. Top percentile debutantes do not engender social development.
Besides, like my friend Manjit often quips, “If it ain’t got a Kay-Bee or Sharper Image, don’t take me there.”
Well, Golden Resources still doesn’t come with such free-wheeling, “eccentric” emporiums in tow, dishing out more of the usual boringly trite selection mainland shoppers have had to contend with for so many years. One exception may be the toy section on the fourth floor, which features reasonably stocked vendors, not too outrageous prices, and a conspicuously unsettling Toys R Us rip off. Another potential forte for Golden could be its decision to dedicate an entire wing to home decoration and improvement. Basically, this means an array of stores dedicated to hardware, furniture and materials. Granted, elegant mall and roughneck DIY seldom mix to good results, but we can live with it so long as it makes sense to shop there. Of course, it doesn’t. Prices here make the Swedish concept masters pale in comparison. Unless your wallet comes with enough moola to afford posh brand names like Natuzzi and Fendi (it’s only RMB15000 for a coffee table), don’t bother, and do your house mods elsewhere. If there’s anything Beijing has in large supply, it’s furniture markets.
Traversing acres of desolation makes one hungry, so now we turn to the subject of food. Even if all else fails, the mainland’s abysmal malls at least have something decent to eat, and I guess Golden Resources conforms to this coveted standard. Or will when they finish it, seeing as several food courts (yes, there’s more than one) haven’t opened yet. The location we check out matches everything you know about Chinese fast food, and has nothing on its contemporaries. For those craving noodles or something snappy to gobble, RMB20 ought to be enough. But Golden’s culinary acumen manifests itself more via hordes of mega-restaurants on the fifth floor, some beautifully done, looking very inviting and prestigious. We pity these brave souls who invest so much here, slinking away from this hideous fiasco in the making. We find a Yoshinoya on the North face and sit there to dine. It’s the emptiest of their restaurants this writer has ever seen, but sure beats paying through the nose for pizza at the new on-site Papa John’s (yes, pizza lovers rejoice).
All told, the mall reportedly features restaurant space almost twice the size of Gongti (Worker’s Stadium). We walk about unsure what’s sadder: that they allocated food such an area or that people actually pay rent and partake in this bedlam. For honesty’s sake, our interest piqued at noticing several small coffee and bar islands dotted throughout the building, with at least one per floor. Even if what they serve isn’t top shelf, they represent a move away from the bad old days of surrendering to McDonald’s watery brew whenever desirous of a caffeine fix. Also, judging by the Starbucks-O-Meter, Golden Resources has yet to attain viability. The coffee franchise is nowhere to be seen.
But the Seattle-based chain has good company for its absenteeism, in light of Beijingers thus far shunning Golden’s boisterous claims to fame. And burrowing even deeper into the beast’s bowels reveals nothing new, save for more endless corridors saddled with barely minimal attention to detail, design and care. Anyone who builds to such exactingly after-the-fashion standards and thinks simply playing the mall scene’s 400lb gorilla suffices in generating excitement deserves a rude awakening. I genuinely hope local audiences can be mature enough to stay away until certain changes may be made to warrant frequenting Golden Resources.
These could range from deploying more ATM’s to making sure a proper store directory greets people at every major intersection or entry. Maybe then finding the damned Cineplex won’t be such a chore. Also, put some more heart into it for Pete’s sake. If you want to play on the Xmas theme, go ahead, knock yourself out, but don’t insult us by plonking a miserable-looking Santa at the door and nothing beyond.
Not even originality, but rather a touch of sophistication, can go miles towards cementing Golden Resources as a bonafide shopping destination.
And it should be one, for the initiative does possess potential for revamping mainland China’s mediocre retail scene. Regrettably, injecting the market with just as listless an experience only on a much bigger scale obviously can’t hope to work.
The vicious cycle of shallow shopping mall experiences must end. Diversity, utility, professionalism and flair all need to be learned and applied before substantive changes for the better can take root.
Here’s to seeing Beijing as home to the world’s best mall, not merely the biggest.
